Even though it is no longer raining, the course is becoming increasingly difficult. Even the permanent helpers with shovels and leaf blowers as dryers can no longer make a difference as the women's race gets underway. The Italian Martina Berta and the Dutchwoman Puck Pieterse set off, the latter soon alone.

But towards the end of the first lap, Loana Lecomte joins the leaders and has to pit immediately. A puncture immediately set the Frenchwoman back and the Dutchwoman set off on her own again. Her lead does not last long, however, as she struggles on the extremely difficult descents and is soon joined by Jenny Rissveds.

The leading duo didn't last long either, as Loana Lecomte rejoined them on lap three. Pieterse then lost touch again and again as Rissveds and Lecomte both got away from her downhill. Not even a crash by the two leaders could change that. What did change, however, was that Lecomte distanced Rissveds one lap later.

Even though the Swede was able to halve her 30-second deficit, Lecomte rode to a worthy victory. Behind the top two, the battle for third place became even more exciting. Jolanda Neff steadily worked her way forward during the race and caught Pieterse on the last lap, albeit after the difficult descents. The Dutchwoman was able to hold off Neff on the climbs and secure third place. Fifth place goes to Martina Berta

Alessandra Keller, Sina Frei and Nicole Koller finished strongly and together in eighth, ninth and tenth place. The three Swiss riders finish 5th, 13th and 22nd overall, with Neff in eleventh place.

Two flat feet prevent possible Flückiger victory

In the final race of the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Denmark's Simon Andreassen dictates the pace. Nino Schurter and Jordan Sarrou, on the other hand, got off to a poor start and were forced to queue up in the narrow forest sections. Andreassen is unable to hold on to the lead for long and Mathias Flückiger takes over. The Swiss rider flexes his muscles in the technical passages and quickly rides out to a lead of over ten seconds.

But Flückiger didn't lead for long either. A puncture briefly set him back and put Tom Pidcock in the lead. Just under a lap later, Flückiger is back on the world champion's wheel. But Marcel Guerrini also shows his qualities again and rides towards the podium, while Schurter and Filippo Colombo reach the top 15 before the halfway point of the race.

Just before the end of the penultimate lap, Flückiger once again creates tension - the air is out again, practically in the same place as at the start of the race. Despite a quick bike change, he is now almost 30 seconds behind. Behind Flückiger, another Swiss rider, Guerrini, has fought his way into the top three, with Frenchman Titouan Carrod close behind and Thomas Litscher in fifth place. Nino Schurter is also fighting hard for overall World Cup victory and is in eighth place.

Despite all of Flückiger's attempts, the positions didn't change and Pidcock took the win. "Mathias chased me around the course for an hour and was always a bit faster on the downhill. Perhaps a little too fast, judging by his two flat tires," said world champion Pidcock after the race.

As the defeated rider of the day, Mathias Flückiger is not too disappointed: "We decided to ride with less air pressure than usual to have better grip on the slippery track. Unfortunately, that didn't quite pay off with the two flat tires. It's a shame on the one hand, as victory would have been possible today, but on the other hand that's part of it."

"The conditions were really difficult and there was a lot of running. I'm all the happier that I made it onto the podium again. The aim was to start well and then catch up. I think I managed that very well," says Guerrini, who finished third behind Flückiger. Behind Victor Koretzky, another Swiss rider, Thomas Litscher, was delighted with his place on the podium.

On the last lap, Schurter experiences another anxious moment when his chain jumps off and jams. He was overtaken by Jordan Sarrou, who could have snatched overall victory from him. Sarrou finishes in ninth place, meaning overall victory goes to Schurter for the ninth time. "That was close! I had a very bad start, was slow to get going and still managed to get into a good position. When the chain fell off and I lost a few places, I got a bit nervous. Now I'm glad to have a break. It's been quite a long season, especially because I've been struggling since Andorra," recaps Schurter.

In the overall standings, Jordan Sarrou is 40 points behind Schurter, Mathias Flückiger is a further ten points back in third place ahead of Luca Schwarzbauer and Thomas Griot. Lars Forster is seventh in the final standings, with Marcel Guerrini in twelfth place.